Argentina looks to PPPs to finance water projects

Argentina is looking to the public-private partnership model (PPP) to finance 277 water and waste projects that are currently being managed by the country's water regulator, Enohsa.

The current sources of financing for these projects are the federal government and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), but these "are not enough. The challenge is to find new public-private financing sources," Enohsa head Luis Jahn said during a conference held by the French-Argentine chamber of commerce, according to the Twitter account of the Argentina subsidiary of French firm Veolia.

At the same event, the head of the country's water and sanitation department, DNAPyS, Juan Martín KoutiudjIan, said that new water projects are being studied within the country's US$30bn PPP program, according to another Twitter post from Veolia.

Meanwhile, the technical adviser of Buenos Aires province water utility Aguas Bonaerenses, Jorge Aurelio, gave a presentation on the firm's main water projects.

In this regard he said the four key projects are the rehabilitation and expansion of the Donato Gerardi potable water plant (costing US$30mn according to the website of local water utility Aguas Bonaerenses, ABSA), the expansion of the Primera Cuenca wastewater treatment plant (US$40mn), the renovation of the sewerage networks in the cities of Bahía Blanca and La Plata (US$1mn), and the construction of inverse osmosis desalination plants for the cities of Pehuajó, Vedia, Lincoln, General Villegas, Chivilcoy and Carlos Tejedor.

Overall, Argentina plans to invest US$44bn in water projects in a 15-year period in order to fulfill the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals for water use and combating poverty. Meanwhile, the US$30bn PPP program includes water projects worth US$9.5bn, on which 79 companies presented statements of interest.